Another year, another New Beginning. This one? In Nagoya. Capital of Aichi. Birthplace of Ultimo Dragon. Location of a Great Muta vs. Naoya Ogawa match in 1997.
1. Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano vs. EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi
Okada is on a weird kick this year, paired off this tour with EVIL Club and responding to that uninspired opposition by rhythmically clapping, using Yujiro’s back as a drum set, and selling for a while before Yano is able to roll Yujiro up for 3. He’s having fun and probably extending his career by a decade but this is the slums. *3/4
2. Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma, SHO & Master Wato vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI
I felt like there was an effort in piecing together the undercard tag on the 1/23 show, but this was back to the usual… exchanges, followed by clapping. That’s the thing, but sometimes I wish it wasn’t. SANADA finds himself unimpressed with not just his own pescado, but the crowd’s tame reaction to that pescado. The finish just kind of happens when SHO pins BUSHI — like, Ibushi isn’t even making an effort at keeping SANADA from making the save but I can’t really say SANADA is even trying to save either. Just do SHO vs. Hiromu already. **
3. Loser Retires the Mongolian Chop: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Great-O-Khan
OOOOOOK! Here we go again. Let’s go get this piece of shit, wants to take away my Mongolian chop and OOOOOH gawd he’s running at me and I will STAB HIM WITH MY HORNS. Yeeee-ahh! Ok, horns off – time to get serious. This boy is just flying all over for me. The respect. Should I even hurt him? Yes. I mean this guy has — oh MAN, this dude. That hurt. Ahhhh shit. Nerve hold. Chops. IMA THROW A SPIN KICK! Can’t believe my foot is still attached.
Calf! Branding! KNEE! That ain’t it. I mean I’m not gonna do a moonsault but I’m gonna stuff you with a second rope Mongolian chop, boy. Eat it. EAT IT. Shit, he stood up. Now we’re chopping each other at the exact same time. Oh god my shoulder hurts. That nerve hold, man. Nope, I’m back – ANACONDA! VICE! That ain’t it. Ugh, I guess – MOONSUALT!!!
Oh my god he moved and my entire body is broken. Ah Jesus. Shit. Shit he’s up too. Just keep fighting. Keep fighting. Keep — he just dropped me with the TTD, this piece of shit. I AM KICKING OUT. I’m back; ahhh no I’m not. Oh man. OK I lost. Ah shit. Ah shit. ***1/4
4. No DQ Match: Satoshi Kojima vs. Will Ospreay
I liked the heat this feud brought to New Japan and I am all about 50-year-old bread-loving Satoshi Kojima having another run, but this match wasn’t really about any of that. Kojima showed some quality hate early and they pulled it somewhere towards the end, but more than anything it felt like Ospreay waltzing around looking for weapons to use in his uninspired take on a WWE gimmick match. He lost his mind when Kojima kicked out of the first OsCutter, but there’s no there there. Respect the lariat. Ospreay wins. **1/4
5. NEVER Openweight Title: Shingo Takagi [c] vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
There are so many people in the biz-ness today that it’s glossed over sometimes what it takes to really make wrestling WORK. Like work work. The tightness of those headlocks. The intensity of that staredown after the guy out-wrestled the other one. The ability to visually convey a strategy of trying to actually win not a 6-man tag but a main event match. They get the most out of everything they do — leg work, a High Fly Flow, even just a punch to the face — despite going longer than most wrestlers ever do.
Tanahashi goes after the leg early on, old faithful, but Shingo powers back and can’t help but flex while he does it. A lot of matches These Days use leg work, but these two make sure nearly everything they do is conditioned by it. Shingo is so pissed any time Tanahashi uses the leg to rally back, a recognition that he has to speed up for this crafty old bastard he just wants to maul.
Ever the crowd-pleaser, Tanahashi hits a High Fly Flow on the floor and even a brand new fan knows it isn’t worth it – Shingo is back on offense moments later. There’s a sassiness in the air as they head towards the finish that takes advantage of the credibility and leg work they sustained over 20 minutes — that and the fact that Shingo is a very bad man.
Shingo drops Tanahashi with a Dragon suplex but Tanahashi, always refusing the truths brought forth by Father Time, fires back with a straitjacket suplex. Then they just start hitting really hard and catching each other with signature spots, all timed to ensure the folks (especially Milano Collection A.T.) react as required: a pop-up after a Dragon suplex, a one-count off a Pumping Bomber, a Sling Blade counter of the Last of the Dragon!? A Dragon suplex hold from Tanahashi can’t do it, but after 35 minutes of epic combat the High Fly Flow – a simple frog splash – takes Shingo’s championship. Two fists in the air. If you only believe. ****1/2
Happy Thoughts: If there are five matches and one of them is as good as Tanahashi/Shingo, that’s a really good show. Tenzan/O-Khan was a nice bonus too. 7/10
